Shell V-Power in a 3.2

Have been giving it a try but not really noticed any great difference. A few BHP increase in that engine isn't really going to be noticeable in day to day driving is it? Hasn't really altered economy either.

Interested to hear the thoughts/experiences of others - not just 3.2 owners.

I think it takes about 4 tank fulls to start increasing economy ... or so i've heard

as for massive waste of money, at my local Shell it costs £1.50 more per tank to fill with V-Power. it costs me roughly £0.14/mile so if i get an extra 11 miles to the tank i'm even. I don't know what i'd get but my mate gets about an extra 30 miles out of a tank so its actually £1.50 less

I actually swear by super now, its makes for better mpg and gives me a better top end when compared...however as mines turbo the engine characteristics will be different so i'd personally isolate your query to 3.2 owners if i were you....either that or create yourself a test bed on a nice stretch of road, spend a month n hit what speed you can by a certain point, change fuels and wait 2 weeks then do the test again - ball ache but only way i found as people opinions are so conflicting

This... Higher Octane fuel is more noticeable with forced induction, even then you need to have a highly tuned car to notice any benefits in terms of BHP,

on the other hand i would say it is worth using it for the fact that it offers better cleaning and protection of the engine, Shell puts its premium additive packages into V-power, Which is much better than any "off the shelf" fuel enhancers you can buy (such as red-x) plus you can guarantee it has been properley mixed,

It will offer better efficiency after a few tanks and better engine cleaning,

The additives that are in v-power basically clean and lubricate the engine for better efficiency. Therefore you will only notice improvement in MPG in an engine which had lots of soot around the injectors

jon
I wondered the same as you some time back and did a test on several runs on a Dyno over 5 weeks. you will consistently get 10-12 bhp more with Tesco 99 ron as opposed to 95ron. That said it equates to less than 5% so its not really going to notice. My car was running at 252bhp with 99 ron so thats about 8 bhp down on a stock S3 or 3%. Personally i think its a waste of money and you will not find MPG improves either. I only use Tesco and i did a plug change after 20k miles last month and they were perfect so dont take any notice about Tesco being **** fuel. it works fine for me with no sooting or misfiring. Save yourself some dosh mate .

As for the original question. I've tried it numerous times on different cars and tbh can't tell the difference. The only car I did have which did made a difference was my old LCR that was remapped accordingly.

I have used V Power and Optimax before it and noticed better responsiveness and fuel economy in my old 1.6. Don't have any rolling road figures like paddy, but when I went abroad for a couple of months my parents were running my car and filling it with regular 95RON and when I came back I thought something was wrong with my car. Make of that what you will!

In my 2.0T I use either V Power or Momentum. It feels less responsive with regular fuels and I so get marginal gains in fuel economy. It's only about £3 more to fill a tank with the higher RON fuels which is not exactly very much and if I get more enjoyment out of it I think it's worth it. There was an article somewhere that demonstrated marginal gains in fuel economy with the "super fuels" and that's just a bit of a bonus I think

This... Higher Octane fuel is more noticeable with forced induction, even then you need to have a highly tuned car to notice any benefits in terms of BHP,

on the other hand i would say it is worth using it for the fact that it offers better cleaning and protection of the engine, Shell puts its premium additive packages into V-power, Which is much better than any "off the shelf" fuel enhancers you can buy (such as red-x) plus you can guarantee it has been properley mixed,

It will offer better efficiency after a few tanks and better engine cleaning,

Click to expand...

I agree that premium quality fuels are very likely to have better detergent packages than cheaper brands,and that's a worthwhile consideration on it's own.

On your other point,whereas you do need a level of tuning to find the benefits with higher octane fuels and forced induction,what it does allow is the use of higher sustained boost levels,even with relatively low boost levels in hotter conditions.

My own car isn't a good example for that,as it is pretty highly tuned.

When I had a 3.2 A3,i can't say I noticed any real benefits over good quality 95RON fuels,but there is no doubt the V6 does sound nice.

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